On the Thursday after the big fight, my sack is predictably bulging with questions and comments about the gigantic drama show. So, let’s skip the usual creepy Mail Sack intro and get right to the good stuff.
Golovkin Overrated or Canelo Underrated?
Hey Magno. I saw where you wrote on Monday that Golovkin losing is proof of him being overrated. Maybe it is. But do you think it’s that or that Canelo was simply dissed on for so long that he came into the GGG fights underrated? I’m thinking more that it’s about Canelo being underrated to be honest. People thought this guy was just going to come in and be KTFO.
Big fan by the way. You keep the FH page fresh and interesting. Thanks.
-- Silky D
Hey Silky.
Maybe it was a bit of both. There’s no way anybody could’ve lived fully up to the hype Golovkin was enjoying in his prime, at least not when actually engaging top-level fighters. This happens to many offensive “beasts.” They get fans and media excited, get incredible amounts of fawning press, so then, when they come across a skilled fighter who makes them look less “beastly,” they seem to have suddenly and unexpectedly deteriorated. Um…no. It’s just that most of these monsters are one-dimensional and will only keep looking like weapons of mass destruction for as long as they are matched just right. Golovkin was better than many beasts of the past, but he falls right into that category of mega-hyped monsters.
As for Canelo, yeah, he has been beaten up and his accomplishments have been so thoroughly diminished by some that he has actually become underrated. Physically, I don’t think he does anything at an elite level, but he’s got an immensely strong will and a keen intellect. He’s significantly better than he was being portrayed—and it showed.
Haterade
Magno. Did you see where most of the media had Golovkin winning? Like 80 media members had GGG winning and only 15 saw a draw and 4 saw Canelo winning. So, what does that tell you? You’re wrong. You scored it a draw? That only proves how much a hater you are. You have real bias against GGG. GGG clearly won this fight and the last one. The only ones who say otherwise are the Canelo fanboys and biased fake media experts like you.
-- Anonymous
Really, is it a surprise that a media which had practically cradled Golovkin’s nuts in their collective hands for the last eight years is going to lean towards Golovkin? This guy got a free ride from the media for years because of the bias in his favor. He was a living, breathing wet dream of fairy tale machismo and those kids of dreams always die hard. Plus, seriously, you could take everything most of these guys know about boxing and how to score a fight, roll it up into a ball, and fit it into the candy shell of a peanut M&M. I’m not ever going to sit here and claim to be an expert on everything boxing-related, but I know much more than most of these keyboard slappers and, whether you care to acknowledge it or not, I’m also significantly more honest.
Canelo’s Gas Tank
Magno. You predicted that Canelo would knock Golovkin out in the later rounds and you were looking like a genius in the early rounds because my man was laying some hellacious leather on GGG. But then the tide turned and GGG made a comeback and evened up the fight.
My question to you is if Canelo had endurance issues again and got tired or if Golovkin did something to stop Canelo in his tracks and get back in the fight.
-- T. Harris
T.
It could be physical or it could be psychological. Golovkin wasn’t putting any real pressure on Canelo when the tide shifted. Canelo simply took his foot off the gas and Golovkin stepped into the void to take control. I would lean more towards it being a mental issue, to be honest. Canelo is a thinker and a planner, both in real life and in the ring. Either consciously or subconsciously, he pulls back to save himself from gassing out because that whole endurance issue seems to be in his head. In this particular fight, I think he pulled back and then found it tough to pick up where he left off.
What’s Next?
Hey Paul,
I think this fight proves once and for all that Canelo is a damn good fighter and not some hype job like they were saying he was. Now we all got to ask what’s next.
I know there is a lot of money in another rematch, but Canelo says he wants to fight in December and after all the drama and anger between the two sides, I think maybe Canelo fights someone else in May and maybe Golovkin in September. The ball is in Canelo’s court now and he deserves it. What do you see Canelo doing next? What do you see Golovkin doing next?
-- Santos Ocampo
Hey Santos.
Reportedly, a December 15 date is set aside for Canelo—depending on whether he wants it and if that large cut over his left eye heals completely by then. If he does fight in December, expect a softball. Then, there’s a for sure Cinco de Mayo date that will see him fight either Golovkin again or, possibly, a David Lemieux or Billy Joe Saunders (if he beats Demetrius Andrade October 20 and/or doesn’t get himself suspended with his stupid behavior before he can sign a Canelo contract).
Golovkin is in a much tougher spot. He can push for another Canelo bout or shop around for another title fight against WBO champ Saunders or WBA paper champ Ryota Murata. He can also “regroup” and hit off the tee once again with any number of tailor made fall guys for reduced-money purses.
For both fighters, though, future plans depend on whether they re-sign with HBO or move elsewhere. I said it before and I’ll say it again, I wouldn’t be one bit surprised to see Canelo-GGG 3 on Showtime PPV next year.
Lessons Learned
Re: Note from the Boxing Underground
I don’t fully blame “Golovkinites” for their inability to see GGG as anything other than a God amongst men, impenetrable, unmarred, and impeccable. HBO did a marvelous job hyping GGG as the most physically dominant fighter since Mike Tyson even though they knew they were placing uber drivers and warehouse workers in front of him. The guy only faced a couple of legitimate middleweights and he arguably lost one of them to Danny Jacobs. Networks joining the game of boxing promotion and signing boxers to long term contracts placed them in a position where they had to promote GGG every chance they got. This has also added a layer of complexity when it comes to making fights and promoters working with other promoters. This is why the last few years when you watched an HBO boxing match that didn’t have GGG on the card; Jim Lampley made it a note to continually talk about GGG. ESPN and the Ring didn’t help either as they also got excited about heralding a mostly unproven champion as if he was going to be the next big face in the sport. At GGGs peak, where he could have challenged himself and moved up in facing Andre Ward, GGG decided to stick around at middleweight and put pressure on a smaller fighter from a lower weight class to move up and face him in Canelo. Anyone that pays close attention to the sport should be happy that plan backfired on GGG turning into a Draw and a Loss. Where would careers like Andre Ward be if HBO, and ESPN promoted him the way they promoted GGG? How would Andre Ward be remembered now if he stuck around at Super Middleweight instead of becoming a legend by moving up and taking on Kovalev….twice!?
GGG is an excellent fighter, powerful puncher, and underrated boxer. And the praise placed on him was never his fault. However, GGG lost me when he played the race card, calling himself Mexican while insinuated Canelo was not a true Mexican boxer. Then to say that he saw holes in Canelos arms accusing him of doping while still accepting terms to fight him caused me to lose a boatload of respect for him. It was GGGs notion that Canelo ran the first fight instead of admitting he boxed well enough, only to back pedal the entire second fight that makes a lot of boxing fans extremely happy the hype train is over. Where GGG at 36 goes from here we don’t know. Time is not on his side. But after 24 rounds of competitive back and forth between the two skilled boxers, ugly promotion, one positive drug test, and zero class portrayed by GGG after the second fight, I think I speak for a lot of people when I say, we are ready to move on from this saga.
--James Le Blanc
Hi James.
I couldn’t have put it better myself. I agree on all counts.
Golovkin is a very good offensive fighter, but he was never this flawless beast ready to devour souls and punch his way to ATG status. HBO took up the job of promoting him and they crafted a legend around him that they then set out to make real by their matchmaking and with their hype machine on overdrive. Some fans and media ate up this narrative of the humble boogeyman chasing down sissy millionaire fighters and they developed a weird fixation on keeping the fairy tale “real”—even when it was becoming clearer and clear that it wasn’t.
Meanwhile, Golovkin’s people were convincing Golovkin that his own hype was real. He developed a sense of entitlement, stopped developing as a fighter (because his experience told him that all he’d have to do was show up to win), and, most recently, started showing a jaded, cynical side to his character.
I wouldn’t say that Golovkin was a fraud or anything like that, but he did benefit a lot from the manipulation of his image and the selling of that image to fans and media who truly and deeply wanted to believe. He got a long and well-crafted free ride, tons of easy paydays, and, eventually, the two mega-paydays his team craved—all from an “everyone is avoiding me” hustle that absolved him and his team from all wrongdoing.
I think a lot of people are waking up from the GGG dream right now.
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